Attic24

March 2012

Ahh March, you are no longer with us and I miss you! April so far is being completely vile, we're in the grips of an icy storm, the wind is howling and it is s-n-o-w-i-n-g, blasted weather. I look through these deliciously springlike photos and I want it to be March again, March was soooo beautiful. The sky was often blue, and we had warm sunshine for the first time this year. It was quite glorious for much of the time, yes March, you were lovely.

My organiser calendar went all green, sophisticated and Continental for March. Made me think of a carefree time in my past when many moons ago J and I flew to Paris for a romantic March weekend. Searching through my memory banks.......oh cripes.....yeah, waaaay back in my youth....March 1995,  seventeen years ago. Would love to go back sometime.

My ever lovely Ideal Homes calendar had this stunning image for March, it's been a true delight having this next to my desk to gaze at for a month. So beautiful, I find the sight of pink blossom really uplifting and good for the soul.

In my mind I associate blossom with May, as that's when the cherry trees in my neighbourhood flower. But in the past month I've noticed such a lot of early blossom flowering on trees all over the place, and it really is delightful. I don't have much blossom-knowledge so have no idea what sort of trees produce these gorgeous early blooms, but I love them very much. They are more delicate than the flouncy, frilly cherry blooms that come in May, I love their sweet simplicity.

My front patch crocus bloomed their little hearts out through early March, they were such a welcoming sight at the front of the house.

Forsythia sprang into action around here a few weeks ago too, there is lots of it around and about in my neighbourhood. I'm not mad keen on it to be honest (that particular yellow is a bit too shouty and acidic for me), but it's undoubtedly a real sign that Spring is well on the way.

In complete contrast to the indoorsyness of February, March was all about reconnecting with Outside. I love March for that very reason. I love stepping out of stuffy, cooped-up February and breathing in the fresh air of March, it's delicious. Lovely to start pegging out again too, it's a sweet domestic job that always fills me with gladness. Hooray for stripy garments flapping in the breeze!

Outdoor tea breaks also began again last month, oh the joy! I generally stop my outdoor pitstops sometime in October when my hands start turning purple with the cold. It's been lovely having enough warmth in the air to have the kitchen door propped open and a quick breather in the outdoors. In fact, I've really, really enjoyed all the domestic outdoorsyness these past few weeks :: the pegging out, the sunshine tea sipping, the seed planting, and the general feel-good brought on by warm air, blue skies and spring sunshine. I feel really excited about spending more time outdoors as the year progresses, about making my back yard into a haven of floral colour and greenery.

Floral colour has ben happening in abundance inside too, just look! Every Friday I stop by the market after picking up Little B from playgroup and treat myself to a modest bunch of fresh flowers. The tulips and narcissi that fill the pavement buckets at this time of year are brilliant, and represent great value for money. I can get quite a few bunches now for just a few ££, enough for me to fill a small jug for the table, pop four into my bathroom windowsill bottles, and have a few in a jar beside my bed. The roses above came from a surprise Mothers day bouquet. I don't wish to sound ungrateful, but I confess I am not a fan of commercial "mixed bouquets". If I am on the recieving end of one (not often), I tend to split them up, chop the stems short and arrange them into various small jugs instead of one over-the-top vase. Much more my style.

My photo album for March was full to bursting with pictures you know, it seemed like a very full-to-bursting kind of a month. When I'm putting my monthly round up posts together I like to try and capture the general feel of the months activities :: it was hard for March as there was so much! Lovely looking back and remembering the various outings we made :: local strolls, simple jaunts and proper full blown outings, it's been liberating to stretch our horizons beyond our four walls again.

Mind you, March also saw me get to grips with the Four Walls a bit, and I am so happy the Shelves of Doom were finally banished. It remains a highpoint of my year so far, truly it does. And that surprises me a bit, but it's true. I think it was as much about the way I was able to mentally and emotionally pull myself together to tackle this task as it was about the end results. A real Personal Achievement for a rather slovenly procrastinator. I really did it, didn't I? Still wearing ridiculous proud smile over that one, although my two crates are still there waiting, as is the pile of 51 books destined for the charity shop, so can't be too smug.

I had a hair chop in March, it was long overdue as I'd not been since the Blooming Flower cushion photos. That's eight months. I've got more grey hairs now, but I'm remaining true to my natural colour which is still pretty good. It feels lovely to have air on my neck again, I was looking quite shaggy and unkempt with my raggedy grown-out shoulder length do.

Hooky wise, not a lot to report for March, it was a quiet month on the hooky front. I kind of lost the will a little, I just didn't seem to want to do it for a while. I worked a little on my ripple through last month, but not a lot. I've got many, many ideas brewing for new projects though, it's quite tangled again up in my Creative Mind. I'll keep you posted.

So how's the Attic view been in March? Terrific, that's how. The light levels have risen dramatically, especially with the arrival of British Summer Time a few weeks ago, and I am so, so thankful for the extra daylight in my life again. Yeah, the view has been light-filled and lovely, take a look.................

I especially love that last photo, it was taken on 27 March at 18:20 after a day of the most glorious sunshine. I love the golden glow of the landscape at that time of day, I remember it made me want to rush out and frolic around in it (which I actually did, I took myself out for an early evening walk to watch the sun set and the moon rise, it was beautiful)

March was altogether a beautiful month. It was light and bright and upbeat, both indoors and outdoors. In March it became Springtime, and I was so ready for that change of season, was so over the winter.

Do you ever think of the year in terms of fractions? I do. I keep thinking wow, we are one quarter the way into the year now. Can't quite believe we're in the second quarter of the year already, but as this is my most favouritist quarter of all (April-May-June), I am more than happy with the progress. Bring it on, I'm ready to give it my all.

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Edit to add :: A Question.......do you think I go on too much? Should I make my posts shorter/less wordy? Interested to hear what you think as I never give much thought to my posts in terms of how they read, I just write what I feel like writing regardless. ♥ oh that's ok then, thanks so much for the feedback and reassurance...will carry on with my ramblin' ways. Not sure I could do any different anyways?! ♥

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doing my Job

I have my off days like anyone else, but mostly I have to say I adore my job as a stay-home-mum. It suits me down to the ground and I consider myself very fortunate to be able to do this job, a job I love with all my heart. I'm not a worker really, no not really. By nature I'm far too idle and ditsy and free-floating to be a good employee, I do pretty much hate being told what to do. I like to feel free, I like to feel that (within reason) I can pick and choose what I want to do each day, set my own schedule according to my mood and the weather.

That's not to say that I don't like routine, cos I do. I like to have some basic structure to my days,  and certain things do need to be done each day, and I do need to be in certain places at set times each day. But that all balances out with the deliciousness of being able to free-float in and out and inbetween the must-do's and must-be's. Like I say, it suits me down to the ground.

I'm really enjoying this stage of Motherhood, I like the playgroup/nursery years a great deal more than the baby years I think. We get to have quite a bit of fun, Little B and I, he is terrific company. I'm enjoying the pace of our days and weeks and feel we're finally achieving a good balance between together time and away time, catering for each of our needs pretty well I'd say.

Thursday is the one day which I leave open without plans. No music groups, no toddler groups, no playgroups, no arrangements. Sometimes my in-laws come across and look after Little B so I can skip with my bag to knit and natter at the cafe. Sometimes I take Little B with me to knit and natter, where I spend much of my time trying to keep him away from the coffee machine which he is obsessed with. But lately, we've just been hanging out together at home on Thursday's, and it's been lovely to enjoy a bit of quiet down time together.

Yesterday though, well yesterday was declared (by me) to be a day for Going Places. The sun was shining and I suddenly thought how grand it would be to walk down to the station and take a train ride. I ran the idea by Little B, and he responded with a great big Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! and an excited kicking of his legs. So down to the station we went to get on a red, shiny train.

Little B had selected suitable reading material for the occasion, and we chatted about various forms of transport for the whole fifteen minute journey. Actually, no that's not true as we did look out the window quite a bit and pointed out things we could see. Sheep and tractors and lorries and the such like.

We journeyed to a nearby town in search of essential clothing supplies for my offspring who will not stop growing. Destination Large Supermarket. We got to ride in a lift. I bought Little B some incredibly dinky-sweet Fireman Sam underpants and new pyjamas with dinosaurs on. New socks and jammies for the Little People too. And one or two wee things for Mummy which snook into the basket, I'll show you those in a bit.

Once all the shopping was done with, we walked the few minutes back to the station and jumped on the train back again. But instead of going all the way back to our home town, we got off a stop early, at the village we visited a month or so ago,  the one with the fabulous play park. What a grand plan that was, Little B was all smiles, and I felt all puffed up and pleased with myself. Doing a Good Job today I thought, what a happy day of Going Places and having fun being Mummy!

Unlike last time we were here which was during the school holidays, today the park was deserted when we arrived. Totally empty and all ours. It was great.

We had the whole run of it, even the giant sandpit which is usually full of kids on busy days.

It was a beautiful day yesterday, still quite chilly, but unmistakably an early Spring sort of a chill and not a late Winter chill.

I was delighted to see some early blossom, it looked so very, very pretty.

And full blown pussy willow too, a sure sign that Spring has most definitely sprung in my patch.

After a good while playing at the park I began to feel peckish, so I persuaded Little B to pause and come have lunch. He was devilishly busy collecting up handfuls of wood chippings and shoving them through a hole in one of the little stone walls, but at the mention of food he came running. We sat at a wooden picnic table in the sunshine and ate some sandwiches, biscuits, bananas and grapes that I'd bought with us. How I love to picnic eat outdoors, I really do love it. So simple and so satisfying. I did have a little bit of picnic envy as a family arrived at the next table and the other Mummy had thought to bring a flask. Damn, I slipped up there, I suddenly felt most desperate for a cup of tea when I spied her pouring smugly from her flask.

The sky was a hazy blue, the sun a sort of pale, watered down version of it's usual bright self. But it was truly blissful to have hazy blue and pale yellow shine down on me as I ate lunch.

It took a lot of persuading to get Little B to leave the park, we were there quite a long time. But eventually I really did kind of Need To Go if you get what I mean (no facilities at the park unfortunately), so I scooped him up (literally) and trotted the few minutes to the little station to wait for the next train back.

I sat on the platform bench and crossed my legs (getting desperate for Facilities), and Little B sat and crossed his legs too. He has new pumps this week look, dinosaur ones, very cute. Already well worn in.

By the time we arrived home, Little B was flat out asleep in his pushchair, worn out from the mornings excitements. I had about an hour and a half before the school run so I quickly chopped and mixed and got the dinner on to slow cook (a curry, this recipe but made with red lentils and mixed peppers. It was delish). Then I set about playing with my new purchases.....

This is what I bought for myself from the Large Supermarket, I just couldn't resist their happy, carefree, colourful charms. They were only £1 each and I felt so giddy putting them through the checkout and stashing them away in my bag. 

I spent a while jigging about in the back yard, clearing away the dead things from some of my big pots so that I could satisfactorily "plant" my windmills. Oh what fun! They look so charming!

I can see them from my kitchen window, spinning round and round in the breeze. I love them.

After all that, I had a weeny window of time left to make myself a brew and sit out in the sunshine a while. I've positioned a chair and cushion right outside my back door for just such occasions as that's where the afternoon sun hits at this time of year.

I sat and thought about our day, and what a good time we'd had together, Little B and I. In fact, our days and weeks are really full of simple pleasure I have to say, we've settled in to a very lovely weekly routine. You may remember I told you he had started going to playgroup two mornings a week? Well the first fortnight was hideous and I felt constantly wrung out with the emotional strain of leaving him when he was crying so much. But then on the 5th day, his lip wobbled considerably, but he Did Not Cry (oh joy!!), and on the 6th day he was subdued but no quivering lips. And by the time we hit the 7th day (which was last week), he positively beamed with happiness when we arrived, waved goodbye to me and ran in to play. Such a humongous relief, I can't tell you.

Right, all this talk about Doing My Job is making me think that right now I should not be sat at my desk chatting to you. Sorry, I do need to go now. Need to scoot off and attend to the business of cleaning. It's Friday morning, Little B is happily at playgroup (yiipeppepeeeeee) and I've got some Home Blessing to do.

See you soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday Happy

:: coming downstairs early on Saturday morning and loving that I still feel completely bowled over by the happy sight of my Shelves. Also loving that I can now photograph the flowers on my table without being overwhelmed by horrendous backdrop of visual doom ::

:: these are Fridays Fresh Flowers, the most beautiful, highly scented narcissi. The smell of them fills the room and is indescribably beautiful. Not every member of my family shares the same thought, but I care not ::

:: pottering. Happy happy. Watering the growing things on my mantel and loving them so very much. Lost count of how many successive yellow pots have filled these hooky tins this year, I will keep buying them week after week until they are no longer available ::

:: same goes for the hyacinths, think this is possibly the 4th or 5th batch. Pink this time, I'm really looking forward to them ::

:: pottering some more. Happy happy. Notice with a lurch of my heart that my new book is still sitting looking gorgeous in my newly acquired funky red wire In-Tray. Must make it top priority to find a Window of Opportunity for it ::

:: the urge to bake strikes, I immediately think Lemon Drizzle cake. Start to assemble ingredients but realise I've not enough sugar. Send Little Man running down to the little shop at the bottom of the road to purchase required sugar, then spend happy time making it happen. The resulting smell that fills the air is quite divine ::

:: suddenly remember that on Friday I bought the Little People new things from the discount bookshop in town and get them out. Am unsure as to whether sticker books involving animals, fairies, princesses, dinosaurs and lego people will still cut the mustard with 7 and 9 year olds, but I am pleasantly surprised by their enthusiasm ::

:: ahhh just like old times. I lovelovelove watching them become so engrossed with these simple books, just as I often did when they were much smaller. Sticker books are ace. Children busy with sticker books are ace ::

:: busy busy now, jobs to do. Dash upstairs to strip bedding off two beds and one cot. Big smile when I go into Little B's bedroom to see that he's managed to build the train track all-by-himself. My heart expands as I imagine his happy play ::

:: beds are stripped, washing machine sets to work, then a little spot of happy Pegging Out. It's not especially sunny, but there is a breeze and I am sure they will pretty much dry outside. I look up and down my back street and see there are many back yard washing lines full of laundry flapping in the breeze. It reminds me of a book illustration, so I go search it out and read it to Little B ::

:: this is a really delightful childrens book with the most heart warming illustrations. My Mum bought it for Little B's first birthday. It's called Peepo! by Janet & Allan Ahlberg. Little B is not yet at the stage where he'll sit still and be read to, but he does like doing the "peepo" bit of this book very much. And instead of reading the verse (which is wonderful but lengthy for a 2yr old), we do a sort of spotting game with the illustrations ::

:: 1 o'clock, and miraculously I am All Alone in the house. Children are out with friends, J has taken Little B to visit grandparents, and so it's just me by myself. I ponder over what to do with this precious window of time, and decide on something a little unusual for the time of day....a bath. A deep, hot, luxurious bubble bath. It is absurdly lovely to sink into the hot foamy, scented water in broad daylight, feels very decadent and naughty ::

:: post bath time now, and I am on a roll. I am continuing the naughty/decadent theme and feeling jolly happy with myself. I bring up to the bedroom a steaming hot cup of tea, a slice of still-warm lemon drizzle cake, and the Urgent Item from the top of my in-tray to deal with. I am in my pyjamas fresh from the bath, and into bed I creep ::

:: getting back into bed in the middle of the day feels kind of guiltily wrong but beautifully right all at the same time. As did the middle of the day bubble bath. And my friends, I can very, very, very highly recommend it. My pleasure-o-meter soared off the scale ::

:: this book, oh this book is fan-TAS-tic. I've read it all, cover to cover, devoured it, lapped it up. I'll be chatting more about it very soon, but for now, let me just say it's one of the bestest books I've ever bought ::

:: out of bed now, tea and cake in tummy, precious book on bedside table, back downstairs to real life. Bath and bed in the middle of the day!! HA!!!! yeah, I did that, and it was oh so GOOD! Pootling about and I spy my basket of ripple. Think to myself that it's been a while since I got it out and gave it an appraisal ::

:: it's looking very bright and joyful. I notice that the last six or seven colours have run through quite a rainbowy phase, so I decide that my next set of colour combos will shake it up a little. A few sparks need to fly I think. Still having a ball with this blanket, I don't think I really want it to end. Which is why I'm working on it oh-so-very-slowly. Eeeking out the pleasure of it ::

♥ What a gloriously simple, Happy Saturday for yours truly. So happy. So blessed. ♥

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Shelves of Bliss

I am genuinely a little embarrassed to be writing up this daft post. It's verging on the ridiculous. Mother of three lets shelving Get Messy. Then Mother of three Tidy's Up!!!! Hardly very thrilling. And yet.....and yet it somehow speaks volumes about where my life is at right now. About the way I am slowly emerging from the intensity of two years raising a baby into toddlerhood. About the way I'm enjoying a little more time and space (and energy) creeping into my life as Little B becomes more independent. About the way I am trying to find new routines which'll keep the place in a relative state of togetherness, rather than just letting it all slip slide.

Decluttering our home has become a major focus for me in recent months, along with reorganising how we store and display our stuff. Cos boy, do we have Stuff.

Jeez. So much stuff. Heaping and teetering, pile upon unsteady pile. Layers and layers of stuff that's accumulated over a lengthy period of time.

What shall I do with this random object? Ahh, just pop it on the shelf for now, put it away later. And there it stays for days/weeks/months.

Clear the table so we can eat dinner, but where to put the papers/objects that are littering the table? Ahh, just pop them on the shelf for now, deal with it later. And there they stay for days/weeks/months.

Open the post, but where to put the letters/bills/statements/catalogues/receipts? Ahh, well just pop them on the shelf for now, deal with it later. And there they stay for days/weeks/months.

Little B!!! You shouldn't be playing with that, you'll break it/spill it!! Put it up on the high shelf so he can't reach, deal with it later. And there it stays for days/weeks/months.

That's the way it goes. So easy to let it happen, in the rush of our busy days. We lived like this for so long, cos it somehow just simply seemed to be The Way It Goes.

But sometime just recently, this shelving chaos began to cause problems. Arguments were occurring. Stuff was getting lost in those there shelves. Important stuff that was needed, and tempers were getting frayed. Little B also grew tall enough to reach the lowest shelf. Stuff began to topple and fall. And it all got to be Too Much.

I was having coffee with a very good friend on Tuesday morning, and we were chatting about what our plans were for that afternoon. Out of the blue I suddenly declared my intention to Start Tidying the Shelves of Doom. I'm gong to do it, I said. I'm ready. I'm really going to do it! I'm going to start from the top and work down, just the top two shelves to start. She has heard this many, many times before, as I have often made similar declarations. This time though, I asked if she wanted to help me. She nearly choked on her cappuccino with the shock of that request, it was really funny! But I explained that I needed her help in a supervisory capacity only. I asked if she would come to number24 at precisely 2.30pm, to inspect the first two shelves for me. Keep me to my word. And so that's how it began. My lovely friend has come round to my house each afternoon to check on the day's progress, and it has motivated me to keep going and produce results. A Declaration of Intention, followed by a Scheduled Inspection is definitely the way to do it, in case you are in a similar situation with your own Doomed Space(s).

Anyhow......I've rambled enough. I need to show you some pics now. The left shelf first. Just scroll back up a bit to remind yourself of the Before picture. Got it? Right, now look below............

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I look at the above image and my heart soars. Whooooooooooosh!!!! So happy! So childishly proud of my efforts!

These middle two shelves are my absolute most favourite. I have my precious books all lined up beautifully, and my delicious new cat too, made by the incredibly talented Jane Foster. And then I have my newly created "dresser" style shelf. Oh my. I am SO in love with this shelf. Take a look at this next picture.....

.....see on the other side of our archway, that odd looking too-narrow pine shelving? Well this makeshift bit of furniture came from our last house and was/is a temporary measure until we can have some proper built in shelving there (I'm thinking natural wood for these shelves, rustic oak kind of thing). Well before my shuffle around this week, all my pretty jugs, vases, pots and mugs were crammed onto one of those pine shelves, more as a safe place for storage than an effective place for display. It was actually Heather who had the idea for me, to shift it about a bit and create a little bit of a dresser look on the white shelves. What a clever thinking person Heather is, it had never crossed my mind to do this. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised what a fabulous idea it was. So I bought some white cup hooks and screwed them in to hang up my smaller jugs and cups. And I'm hugely pleased with the results. I had to move quite a few books across to the rickety pine shelf in order to make space on the white shelf, but I think it looks ok for now.

I'm also very happy to now have all my books together on one shelf too, as my crochet/craft books were widely scattered about the house before. I gathered them all together into one place, and it makes me really happy to see them there. I don't have all that many really, and they've been gathered across many years...but I think I have enough. For now.

This is my collection of feel-good books, which are of the interiors/lifestyle sort. I adore this type of book, I can spend hours and hours browsing the picture heavy pages, dreaming up all sorts of creative schemes for my own surroundings. I just love to do that, have done since I was in my early twenties and lived for the first time in my own little flat.

The other change I made was to move my collection of enamel coffee and tea pots over from the right shelf to the left shelf. I've been collecting these since I first moved to this town four years ago. I paid very little for them (no more than £4) from our local "collectors centre", and I love that I've bought them this way over a number of years. I've recently been looking on ebay for similar items, but've been stunned by the prices they fetch.

Moving on then.

This is the other Shelf of Doom, the one on the right of the fireplace.

This shelf isn't quite so messy as J did have a stab at clearing it on my behalf some time ago when I was out for the day. So funny...his method of solving the messy problem was simply to scoop up all of my stuff and shove it in a big box, then take the box down to the cellar. Out of sight, out of mind. I was livid at the time when I discovered what he'd done, but it did force me to deal with The Box (mostly craft stuff, which is now neatly stored in the cupboard below).

So shall we have a look at the transformation?

Ok.

Lets take a peek...............

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So much better I think you'll agree. I still need J to go through his collection of paperbacks as I could do with a little bit of extra space on this side. I'd like some pretty files/A4 boxes to deal with paperwork issues that we still have ongoing. We desperately need some sort of a filing system in place, somewhere to organise and store the papers that we want/need to keep. This is a major problem and a big contributor to our clutter/mess issues. Already J has made a little stack on that lower shelf, ALREADY, damn him!! This morning I noticed there were two newspapers, an unopened magazine, the water bill which arrived yesterday, and a copy of a letter he sent out yesterday. Tsk tsk, bad J.

But oh we are heading in the right direction, we really are. I am SO, so SOSOSOOo happy with the work I've done this week, with the results I've achieved.

And it has been hard work. Tough graft. I started on Tuesday afternoon, then worked quite a bit on it through Wednesday afternoon too. Plus pretty much all day Thursday when I hit the bottom shelves (above picture), as these really were rammed with an incredible amount of stuff.

Mind you, the shelves may look terrific but we've still got an Incredible Amount of Stuff to deal with. I've already recycled a shed load of paper, put away a good number of objects and created a stack of fifty-one books to donate to charity. But still J and I each have a large crate of miscellaneous objects to sort/store/file/bin/recycle. Sigh. It's not over yet. But I am determined to keep going, to see it through to a satisfactory conclusion.

I've only got to look at the Before and After photos to keep me motivated.........

Left Shelf. From Doom to Bliss.

Right shelf. From Gloom to Glory.

What a satisfying, productive week it's been.

Coming downstairs first thing this morning I was so excited to open the door and feast my eyes on this room. It filled me with such warmth and happiness.

Lovely. Simply lovely.

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 Edit to add :: I don't know how to thank you for your sweet words of encouragement, understanding and shared joy, so precious to know that you know. Humble thanks, as ever.

Also, just wanted to share this wonderful little ditty written by Penny, it made me laugh...

ODE TO LUCY The shelves of doom have left the room and taken with them the horrid gloom. They've been replaced with a beautiful space that puts a smile upon my face. They wont be missed I can promise you this for now I have my room of BLISS!

You all make me feel a million dollars. mwah xxxxxxxxxx

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Playtime

Returning back to routine today, J went back to work, the Little Peeps went back to school and the Kidlett and I went off to sing and bash drums at Musical Tots. It was good. I do enjoy routine, more than I like to admit.

This afternoon, I had a little time to myself :: Mummy Playtime. I had a good smooch with my new soft embroidery threads, purchased yesterday so that I may continue my obsession with making Mini Bunting.

Do you like the colours? I had J and the LP waiting for me in the car, so I picked these out in about 30 second flat. Yanked them off their hooks, pooled them together in my hands, rushed to the till, paid for them, made a little small talk with the shop lady whom I taught to crochet a few years ago, and ran out the door. J still managed to raise his eyebrows, honestly, I swear I must've only been about five minutes.

I chose quite a few pinky colours as I've an idea to crochet some mini roses. Think sweet mini  bunting flags interspersed with mini crochet roses. Ooooooooooooooooooh!!

Something else caught my eye this afternoon during Playtime too. This envelope that arrived a few weeks ago all the way from Malaysia, sitting patiently on my desk, waiting for my Full Attention.

Want to see the Malaysian contents?

Ok.....

It's a sticker set. Found and purchased on Etsy when I was having a little gush over all things Washi Tape.

Just a minute though...lets just nip over to the sofa and make sure Little B is still sweetly in the land of nod............

........ahh yes, sleeping soundly, snoring gently and making little grunty animal noises. Too cute for words.

Right then, it's safe to carry on with my Playtime, uninterrupted.

Lets open up the packet shall we?

Oooooooooooooooooo-la-la!!!!!  Sweet!!!

Twenty five little playing-card sized sticker sheets, don't you just love little things like this? Takes me right back to my childhood, makes me think I am eight years old again. Such joy to be had with stickers and cutesy stationary products!

Can you see that each sticker sheet is pre cut? There are circles at one end, then the rest is cut into two different width strips.

You know what I'm going to do with the strips don't you?

Uh-huh. Mini paper bunting strings, inspired by this and this. This is as far as I got before Little B woke up, but I am already looking forward to resuming during my Tuesday afternoon Playtime.

Thread. Stickers. Scissors.

Peal, fold, stick, snip, love.

Bliss.

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 Edit to add :: the Etsy seller that I bought the stickers from can be found here. You can also find many more similar items on Etsy though, have a look here if you're interested.

 

Nothing in Particular

The days and weeks seem to be flowing gently by with not much happening and not much change here of late. Sort of a continuous stream of wintry day-after-day spent indoors keeping warm. I keep getting a vague wave of dissatisfaction wafting over me, feeling that somehow we should be doing more family stuff, more activity, more something, but the feeling comes and goes in a blink. There and then gone. The family (as far as I can tell) are more than happy to just float in this slow, wintry stream, it only seems to be me who thinks from time to time that we need to jump out! Explore! Go places! Have fun! But like I say, the feeling is there and then gone.

I think these sort of days/weeks are sometimes necessary, a sweet and gentle fallow period when everyone can rest and recharge their batteries. We each seem to be taking turns to do battle with the odd lurgy. Just coughs and colds and a little tummy ache here and there, but instinctively we have slowed down and are allowing this time to pass gently.

Each and every day I give gratitude for my sweet home life, for the fact that we have come to live in such a warm, cosy, solid, happy house. I love this house, number 24. It's quite modest as houses go, a mid terrace with a small footprint, and often we do feel like we could do with more space. We keep wondering whether we should move. We often spend time speculating over property, J and I. Houses with a garden and outside space for Connievan, a bigger kitchen (my dream) and a study (his dream), houses with open vistas and greenery, houses with more, more, more. But every time we think about moving we come back to this basic fact :: we are so happy here. There is an indefinable something which makes this house so special to live in. So we stay.

Of course, this house is just a house, and there is a tremendous difference between a house and a home. I fill this house with love and colour and creativity, with sweet smelling flowers, good food and all manner of pretty things. I make it into Home for me and my family. And if I say so myself, I think I'm rather good at Making Home.

This past week J taught me to poach eggs. Not with any fancy equipment, just with a pan of water and a little splash of vinegar. I've wanted to acquire this skill for so long, especially since I adore the sort of posh brunch you get in posh eateries that include muffins and smoked salmon and these beautifully posh, creamy poached eggs. Hooorraaahhh!! Now I can do it all-by-myself!! I am eating eggs for breakfast and lunch. No stopping me now I have The Poaching Knowhow.

Are you finding this post odd? It's a bit rambly and all over the place isn't it, full of not-a-lot. I am sorry. I've got a jug of bright daffodils sitting on my table this week. They started out as tightly closed green buds, but very quickly unfurled in the warmth of Home.

Such glorious colour and unpretentious beauty. I really love daffodils, most especially at this rather grey time of year.

Can I just say, before I retreat off to bed with my basket full of Ripple and a hot water bottle, that I love that you visit me. So much. Thank you, thank you for stopping by and reading my ramble, especially on a day like today when I am a little run down and am drivelling. When I am full of Nothing in Particular, but I feel like babbling all the same.

Thank you ♥

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Today's Moments

Today I turned my face up to admire the blue of the morning sky

Today we had our first Autumn frost 

Today I really enjoyed my morning walk to school along the canal

Today I smiled at Little B twirling this leaf around in his fingers as we walked

Today I fell in love with my geraniums all over again

Today I noticed the second flush of my Alchemilla, vivid green against grey stone

Today I enjoyed my morning coffee sat in bright streaming sunlight

Today Little B and I spent lots of "laughter-time" together

Today we visited a small playpark on the other side of town, high up on the hill

Today I loved Little B chatting to the chickens through the fence beside the park

Today the sunshine made rainbow lights dance across my wall

Today I enjoyed a little bit of colour-planning, mmm-mmm

♥

Today I am thankful for the multitude of Happy Moments that made up my day.

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Ninety Minutes

This afternoon, 12.15 - 1.45pm.

He busied himself with snuggles, snoozes and sweet dreams......

......and I busied myself with some slurping, munching and happy hooking.

It was a mighty fine way to spend Ninety Minutes.

♥

ps. there'll be a hooky reveal coming very soon, I'm almost there with it.

pps. Squeeeeeeeeeeeee eeee ee eeee e e e e e e e e e !!!!!!!!!! V e r y  e x c i t e d !

♥

Taking Time

:: taking time to sit a while in the Attic window seat and watch the delightful midsummer weather play out across the landscape. The view above is to the left of normal, can you see the church tower and then behind it the castle nestling in the trees? ::

:: taking time out in my back yard to sit and ponder this and that over an afternoon cuppa ::

:: taking time to do the rounds of my recently planted up pots, deadheading a few flowers, sniffing the herbs, scooping up snails, enjoying my dinky little outdoor space ::

:: taking time to unwrap a spontaneous supermarket purchase of stocks and arrange them in a jug. I felt that under the circumstances I deserved two bunches of flowers instead of just one, and my-o-my they are totally divine. I can smell their sweet/spicy scent right now as I type ::

:: taking time for a little chocolate therapy of the Green and Blacks Maya Gold variety. It hit the spot nicely ::

:: taking time to have a little stroll through Magazine Wonderland whilst inhaling the aforementioned stocks and scoffing the aforementioned chocolate. It's a three-pronged approach to making oneself feel cheered and uplifted and it works wonders. Incidentally, the July issue of UK Country Living is utterly, totally scrumptious, I nearly hyperventilated with desire when I hit page thirty nine ::

:: taking time to drink in all that saturated floral colour, did I mention how much pleasure a couple bunches of cheap flowers can deliver? Ooodles I tell you.

:: taking time to appreciate the afternoon light as it streams in through the back window ::

It was our towns annual Gala today, you may remember me chatting about it last year? The Little People were so excited to be heading up to the park this afternoon for the funfair, the candyfloss and the daredevil stunts in the arena, but truthfully my heart was not in it. I walked with them to the end of our street, then on the spur of the moment I quietly asked J if he wouldn't mind if I stayed home alone for a while. I really, desperately felt the need to be alone, to Take Time for myself.

Taking time, yes I have been doing just that this afternoon and what a tonic it has been. I've been taking time to search out the little things that bring lightness and pleasure, escape and peace. Taking things slowly and gently and trying to let go of the worry and the fear. Not all that easy. Things with my Mum are currently described as "stable", we are awaiting words on Monday from a bigwig medical man who will look at test results and hopefully give us a more detailed picture. So until then we wait patiently and keep everything crossed. And I take time to appreciate all that is good.

Thank you so very very very much for all the positive thoughts you've been winging through my Attic Window, I can't tell you how thankful I am for the goodness you are sending my way.

Wishing you a weekend full of lovely little moments of happiness, take time to appreciate them won't you?

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Tuesday Catch-up

Hello!! Just bobbing in very briefly to send out a wave of {{{Love & Thanks}}} to you all for continuing to visit with me in the Attic. Its such fun to read all you have to say in response to all that I have to say, it's quite the wonderful experience.

I've not been well this past week, just a snotty head cold, but enough to make me droop and wilt and lose the bounce in my step. We are also into week three of Little B having the same poorliness so on top of the germs we are both a bit sleep deprived too. Been trying not to feel sorry for myself, but there have been times in the past few days when I've just wanted to sit down and wail like a baby. Waaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Make me better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let me Sleeeeeeeep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't want to cook/wash/change nappies/walk to school!!!!!! Wahhhhwaaaahhhhwaahhhhhh!!!!!! Yes I've been a bit whingey I have to admit.

Feeling a teensy weensy little better today, despite the 4am start, so here's hoping those pesky germs are packing their bags ready to ship out very soon.

Still been managing a little hooky time though. Of course. A flower here, a flower there and slowly but surely I am getting closer to being able to wrap and drape and stride out with them slung about my shoulders. I have to say I was/am blown away by your enthusiasm for this project, wow! The comments on my last post were just super. I've seen lots of new Japanese Flowers already appearing in Blogland this week, you can see some of them in the Attic24 Inspired Flickr group, please do go take a look if you get a mo.

A dash of bright colour has come into the Attic this week to perk things up a bit....my favourite Pretty Potted Primulas (PPP's) are in season again,  yippppeeeeee!!! Cripes they are so cheap to buy in the supermarkets at this time of year :: 59p for the above beauty. Fifty Nine pence!!!!!!!!!! Lovely, lovely, lovely.

Something else new here too, just over to the left of the PPP sitting in the alcove beside the fireplace. It was delivered on Sunday and I've been in raptures over it ever since. Been ages since any new furniture came into number 24. Well it's new to us any road, I think the popular term these days is "Pre Loved". Yes this piece of delightful furniture was pre-loved by someone else and is now the Object Of My Desire. I'll show you more of it when I can take some better pictures, when the rain stops raining down and the sun decides to come out of hiding. It happens to be painted in my Ultimate Favourite Colour of All Time.  Would be interested to know what you'd call this colour, it's actually slightly greener than the above picture. Aqua? Turquoise? Whatever it's name, it is beautiful. Heart skippy without doubt.

And on that happy note I shall love you and leave you for now....got lots and lots of fun things to share with you, my Potential Blog Posts are stacking up! Some new art work, a new crochet book, two other little hooky projects I'm working on at present, a recipe....will try and find time to write more when I am not feeling so droopsy.

Right-o, I really am off now. Off to drink hot lemon and honey, it's my bedtime, see you all soon xx

Edited to add :: Wednesday :: the sun is shining and I'm feeling  a lot better, thank you so much for all your well wishes! I am also THRILLED to hear from you about "Tiffany Blue", yes yes, this is the EXAct colour!!!!! Fancy my Ulitmate Favourite Colour of All Time being so darn posh, I never knew!!!!!